MOTM

a) Mouser is now selling replacement washers for the Switchcraft jacks. Part 
number 502-S10221. I have been trying for *months* to get them to do this, now 
they are. My reason is so the new vertical jacks can use these washers (I hated 
the default washers that were shipped). So now I can proceed with the new 
MOTM-910 mults, and also the VC Pulse Divider.

b) I will be able to ship a LOT of stuff the next 12 days as "real work" lets up 
a bit. What is left of this week is MOTM 2.0 stuff and older orders for rails 
and some power supplies, and getting AH stocked with Frac modules. *ALL* of next 
week is 100% assembled modules. My goal is to ship 40 assembled modules by May 
12th. I will include a few MOTM-650s as well. The next big push is the week of 
May 21st, where I plan to ship all of the remaining MOTM-510, MOTM-300 and 
MOTM-310 kit orders. And the 6 or so kits made up by Indiana. Note that there 
are ~24 "sale" kits left to ship, that I have to make up 1 at a time. It will be 
late July until these ship (lowest priority).

Remember, starting June 1, the focus will *shift* to getting the AudioEngine 
prototype designed, built and tested. There will be 1 week in June when I am 
waiting for pc boards, I will resume shipping. But when the boards come back, I 
have to build/debug. I also want the VC Pulse Divider production test boards to 
be designed/fabbed/debugged by July 10th. I want to be able to accept VC Divider 
orders on Aug. 1st (start saving the $$$). I need to recalculate the cost, will 
have a figure in July. It will be more than $200 but less than $400.

c) The VC Divider will have the newer type of black paint. The current paint has 
become too involved to use going forward (many metal suppliers refuse to even 
quote it). Of course, I will try my best to match the older paint in terms of 
the "look and feel" but there *will be* a difference. I doubt it will be 
noticeable past 2ft away. The white lettering will probably 'stand out' more on 
the new finish.

Paul S.

I take it these washers are too small (inner diameter of 3/8 inches) to 
fit the MOTM-650 jacks.  So the VC Pulse Divider will use different jacks?

Richard Brewster

Paul Schreiber wrote:

> a) Mouser is now selling replacement washers for the Switchcraft jacks. Part 
> number 502-S10221. I have been trying for *months* to get them to do this, now 
> they are. My reason is so the new vertical jacks can use these washers (I hated 
> the default washers that were shipped). So now I can proceed with the new 
> MOTM-910 mults, and also the VC Pulse Divider.
>

Whoa!!!

"c) The VC Divider will have the newer type of black paint. The current
paint has
become too involved to use going forward (many metal suppliers refuse to
even
quote it). Of course, I will try my best to match the older paint in terms
of
the "look and feel" but there *will be* a difference. I doubt it will be
noticeable past 2ft away. The white lettering will probably 'stand out' more
on
the new finish."

Did I miss something somewhere? What new paint?

I'm beside myself right now. Having spent a considerable amount of time and
money
trying to maintain the "MOTM" look in my system, I'm not pleased at all.
This, on
top of everything else that's changed over the past year is over the top.

So what are people that are building MOTM-compatible modules supposed to aim
for?
The old paint or the new paint?

-Greg

I think there will be a burgeoning market for the old paint modules.  Watch
out for price speculation on used modules with paint version #1.  :-)

John Loffink
The Microtonal Synthesis Web Site
http://www.microtonal-synthesis.com
The Wavemakers Synthesizer Web Site
http://www.wavemakers-synth.com

> -----Original Message-----
> From: motm@yahoogroups.com [mailto:motm@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Greg
> James
> Sent: Tuesday, May 01, 2007 9:54 PM
> 
> Whoa!!!
> 
> "c) The VC Divider will have the newer type of black paint. 
> 
> Did I miss something somewhere? What new paint?
> 
> I'm beside myself right now. Having spent a considerable amount of time
> and
> money
> trying to maintain the "MOTM" look in my system, I'm not pleased at all.
> This, on
> top of everything else that's changed over the past year is over the top.
> 
> So what are people that are building MOTM-compatible modules supposed to
> aim
> for?
> The old paint or the new paint?
>

>I take it these washers are too small (inner diameter of 3/8 inches) to
> fit the MOTM-650 jacks.  So the VC Pulse Divider will use different jacks?
>

Correct. All new modules going forward use a vertical mounted Switchcraft-style 
jack.

Paul S.

>I think there will be a burgeoning market for the old paint modules.  Watch
> out for price speculation on used modules with paint version #1.  :-)
>

There is little I can do about suppliers dropping support for the Polane paint. 
OSHA last year passed stringent air-quality laws that required very expensive 
spray-booths in order to use this paint.  Sherman-Williams jacked up the price, 
and also this paint requires a special 'filler primer' undercoat (it's sort of 
light red/pink). Yes, it looks really nice and I have been happy the last 8 
years or so using it. But sheet metal vendors are dropping it like a hot potato.

The main difference is that the splatter nozzle used now (the texturing used on 
the front) will have a finer droplet size and the overall 'sheen' of the panels 
will be less (the newer paint is not as "glossy").

Again, there is not a whole lot I can do about it, just like I can't "fight" 
RoHS laws and I can't impede the march of SMT ICs. I have to use what the market 
makes available to me. I don't like Spectrol jacking around with the 148/149 
pots (RoHS laws), either.

Paul S.

Got a Mouser or Digi-Key part number for those? I'm just curious to see what
they're like.
 
--Adam


  _____  

From: Paul Schreiber [mailto:synth1@...] 
Sent: Tuesday, May 01, 2007 10:12 PM
To: Richard Brewster
Cc: MOTM litserv
Subject: Re: [motm] Update/jack washers/paint



>I take it these washers are too small (inner diameter of 3/8 inches) to
> fit the MOTM-650 jacks. So the VC Pulse Divider will use different jacks?
>

Correct. All new modules going forward use a vertical mounted
Switchcraft-style 
jack.

Paul S.

Got a Mouser or Digi-Key part number for those? I'm just curious to see what 
they're like.

--Adam


I bought them direct from the manufacturer (1500pc minimum). It's a 112A jack 
but instead of solder lugs, they have tines that are made to grip a pc board 
(they "snap-in" and then are soldered).

Paul S.

On 5/1/07, Paul Schreiber put forth:
>a) Mouser is now selling replacement washers for the Switchcraft jacks. Part
>number 502-S10221. I have been trying for *months* to get them to do this, now
>they are. My reason is so the new vertical jacks can use these
>washers (I hated the default washers that were shipped). So now I
>can proceed with the new MOTM-910 mults, and also the VC Pulse
>Divider.

Speaking of the MOTM-910 mults, can we buy 910 panels??

>c) The VC Divider will have the newer type of black paint. The
>current paint has become too involved to use going forward (many
>metal suppliers refuse to even quote it). Of course, I will try my
>best to match the older paint in terms of the "look and feel" but
>there *will be* a difference. I doubt it will be noticeable past 2ft
>away. The white lettering will probably 'stand out' more on the new
>finish.

I didn't even know that black came in different shades :)  I doubt
that the Encore modules and Stooge panels used the exact same paint,
and they look perfectly fine.  To paraphrase Henry Ford, you can make
modules in any color you want, as long as it's black.

Actually, I believe they did. As did Blacet s MOTM panels. Moe

>  I didn't even know that black came in different shades :) I doubt
>  that the Encore modules and Stooge panels used the exact same paint,
>  and they look perfectly fine.

The Stooge Panels have been, and will continue to be, made with the
original paint.

Just about to paint the second batch as a matter of fact.  Taking orders soon...

Doug

http://www.stoogepanels.com

On 5/2/07, Dave Bradley put forth:
>Actually, I believe they did. As did Blacet's MOTM panels.

Well, you would know :)

Regardless, the finish on MOTM panels -- regardless of origin --
doesn't look that much different than all of the other non-MOTM
black-painted metal gear sitting next to them.  So I could care less
if Synthesis Technology changes the brand of paint they use.  I
realize that some people are fanatics when it comes to these things,
but fwiw, I'm not one of those people.

I'm in the "I don't really care about the finish on my panels" camp 
also, FWIW (and it isn't worth much, since Paul can't do anything 
about it anyway). OTOH I do find it faintly vexing that there are 
variations in the silkscreening from one module to the next, e.g. 
tick-mark patterns and label placement.

It's the sound that counts in the end, not the paint. 

--Adam

--- In motm@yahoogroups.com, Mark <yahoogroups@...> wrote:

>
> On 5/2/07, Dave Bradley put forth:
> >Actually, I believe they did. As did Blacet's MOTM panels.
> 
> Well, you would know :)
> 
> Regardless, the finish on MOTM panels -- regardless of origin --
> doesn't look that much different than all of the other non-MOTM
> black-painted metal gear sitting next to them.  So I could care less
> if Synthesis Technology changes the brand of paint they use.  I
> realize that some people are fanatics when it comes to these things,
> but fwiw, I'm not one of those people.
>

I just started building modules again, and apparently my assembly
skills are a bit rusty.  I also noticed my vision isn't as good -- I
can't read things without a magnifying glass that I could before.

Anyway, I was about to add the pots, when realized that I assembled
two PCB's with the the no clean solder.  I was wondering why it
didn't make foam during the board washings.  Now that I looked at it,
and compared the diameter of the solder I used to both no clean and
organic solder, I'm sure that I used the no clean for the board parts.

I usually very careful and methodical, so I'm feeling rather stupid
that I made such a huge mistake.

So what are the consequences of using no clean solder to assemble
PCB's??  Is there anything that I should do at this point??  Should I
just forget it about it, or will it eventually cause problems??
Putting it another way, besides flowing easier and being less sticky,
what are the advantages of using organic solder??

Looking at the PCB's it does look like the solder did flow to from
the bottom to the top side of the board.

There are really no "bad things" about using no-clean. It won't look as pretty, 
but electrically you are OK.

Paul S.

----- Original Message ----- 

From: "Mark" <yahoogroups@...>
To: <motm@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Monday, May 21, 2007 4:52 PM
Subject: [motm] using the wrong solder??


>
> I just started building modules again, and apparently my assembly
> skills are a bit rusty.  I also noticed my vision isn't as good -- I
> can't read things without a magnifying glass that I could before.
>
> Anyway, I was about to add the pots, when realized that I assembled
> two PCB's with the the no clean solder.  I was wondering why it
> didn't make foam during the board washings.  Now that I looked at it,
> and compared the diameter of the solder I used to both no clean and
> organic solder, I'm sure that I used the no clean for the board parts.
>
> I usually very careful and methodical, so I'm feeling rather stupid
> that I made such a huge mistake.
>
> So what are the consequences of using no clean solder to assemble
> PCB's??  Is there anything that I should do at this point??  Should I
> just forget it about it, or will it eventually cause problems??
> Putting it another way, besides flowing easier and being less sticky,
> what are the advantages of using organic solder??
>
> Looking at the PCB's it does look like the solder did flow to from
> the bottom to the top side of the board.
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>

On 5/21/07, Paul Schreiber put forth:
>There are really no "bad things" about using no-clean. It won't look
>as pretty, but electrically you are OK.

Thanks, I feel better now.  It looks as though the flux did wash off
with hot water and an old toothbrush.  Although it was entirely my
fault for not paying enough attention to what I was doing.